Like its predecessors, the Picchio was a conventional low-wing cantilever monoplane of exceptionally clean lines, with retractable tricycle undercarriage.

Production of the early, wooden Picchios was carried out by Procaer in Milan, but in the mid 1960s, Frati established General Avia as his own factory to build his designs, commencing with the F.15E.

Only a few examples were built, however, and the design lay dormant until revived by an Austrian company, HOAC in the mid 1990s.

HOAC arranged to have the two-seat F.15F model built at the JSC Sokol plant in Niznij Novgorod, but ran out of money, leaving Sokol with unsold airframes in various states of completion.

The Picchio was primarily intended for operation by private pilot owners and the design was exported to several European countries as well as being purchased by Italian individuals.